Latin Returns from the Dead in King’s Classrooms

Pulled texts from a mixture of Latin articles and books. || Graphic created by Shannon Mason

To some, Latin is considered to be a dead language. At King’s, there are students who believe otherwise, after taking the course taught by Dr. Joshua Kinlaw. 

“It only appears dead if you don’t know that it is there,” said Ava Grossman, a senior at King’s. “Latin is everywhere.” 

Over 60 percent of all English words have Greek or Latin roots. Kinlaw refutes the dead language claim as “false.” But, he recognizes why people would say otherwise. 

“Historically, there is no case that Latin is a dead language,” Kinlaw said. “There was this recent historic occurrence where the system turned against Latin. That is true. We now cannot assume that every educated person knows some Latin—that is where the idea that it is dead comes from. People think it is exotic or foreign to us.” 

The system turning against Latin took place after World War II, Kinlaw said in an interview with EST. As public education grew in popularity in the West, the system stopped funding or cancelled Latin and Greek programs all together. However, in the modern world, Kinlaw believes there is a revival. 

“In the current chapter, where we are now, the pendulum has swung back to some extent. Today we got vibrant Latin learning communities,” Kinlaw said. “The leading one is the classical school movement, private schools, some of which are Christian and some that are not.”

Some students were never given the opportunity to learn Latin until King’s, such as Grossman. She took Spanish for two years and now believes, “I know more after taking half a semester of Latin with Kinlaw than I remember my two years of Spanish.” 

“I know people say Latin is a dead language but I love reading, so taking Latin gives words a whole new valence,” Grossman said. “Everything has an extra layer of meaning that it did not have before.” 

The “extra layer of meaning” she mentions is in reference to the insight Latin provides on grammar and different meanings of words. 

“[Learning Latin] is like an instrument. You start off with a crummy violin. You know, it is a smaller size, for a beginner,” Grossman said. “Once you start practicing, you move up to a nicer one. Maybe by the end you have a custom instrument. For me Latin is kind of like that extra layer of meaning, not only to words but to grammar.” 

Grammar is not always taught in depth at schools in the U.S., which Grossman believes makes Latin all the more necessary. 

“I did not feel like I had a great background in grammar and I already feel like Latin has helped me. It is very logical. It makes you think through grammar in a systematic way,” Grossman said.

English classes in elementary schools in the United States are no longer focusing on grammar. Recent reports by the Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA) suggest that in comparison to other developed countries, the U.S. scores relatively low on reading tests.

Being a liberal arts college, King’s has offered Latin as a course for the past three years. 

“It only appears dead if you don’t know that it is there,” said Ava Grossman, a senior at King’s. “Latin is everywhere.” 

“It is unfair to call yourself a liberal arts student or institution if you do not allow some instructions in these ancient languages, including Latin,” Kinlaw said.

“Latin can be sort of a risk because we are fighting against this dead language stereotype,” Kinlaw said. “The good news is that The King’s College as an institution has decided that they want to allow for this and prioritize it, to some extent. To get it on the catalogue and make it happen. We are getting a good response from the students.” 

Kinlaw’s class grew from a handful of students to a significantly sized class this semester. Some students noted that they started off in a small classroom and had to switch to a larger classroom. 

King’s does not offer another language besides Latin, but students—like Grossman—do not see this being problematic for their education.

“If I came in a freshman and I had room to take Latin and another language, then I would,” Grossman said. “But I would lean towards taking Latin even over another language because there are resources to learn languages like Spanish, like DuoLingo. But I could not teach myself Latin.”